Graduation Year
2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.S.
Degree Name
Master of Science (M.S.)
Degree Granting Department
Biology (Integrative Biology)
Major Professor
Marc J. Lajeunesse, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Andrew M. Kramer, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Peter Stiling, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Paul-Camilo Zalamea, Ph.D.
Keywords
Feeding guild, Insecta, Intraspecific predation
Abstract
Cannibalism, or the killing and consumption of individuals of the same species, is historically regarded as uncommon among carnivores, but even more so among herbivorous, plant-eating animals. However, recently there is a rapidly growing literature on herbivorous insects, and here I conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of these new studies with the goals to synthesize what can moderate or promote cannibalism in this trophic group. After screening 3,791 candidate articles, I identified 50 studies that report manipulative experiments of cannibalism among herbivorous insects and found 20 different moderators—such as presence of predators, herbivore age, starvation status, temperature, and injury. Using meta-analysis, I found that only moderators based on host plant characteristics impacted the intensity of cannibalism (e.g., plant defenses, nutrients, availability), while herbivore traits (e.g., age, injury, sex), or biotic and abiotic environmental moderators (e.g., presence of predators, temperature), were less useful in explaining variation in cannibalism mortality. These findings suggest that when cannibalism occurs among herbivorous insects, mortality associated with cannibalism intensifies primarily due to limitations to their primary resource, plants.
Scholar Commons Citation
Geniesse, Christyn A., "Moderators of Cannibalism among Herbivorous Insects" (2022). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/10293
